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Hanlon’s razor is a mental safeguard against the temptation to label behavior as malicious when incompetence is the most common response. It reminds us that people are not out to get us, and it’s best to assume good faith and resist the urge to assign sinister motives without overwhelming evidence.
This isn’t to say that genuine malice doesn’t exist. Of course, it does. But in most interactions, stupidity is a far more common explanation than malevolence. People make mistakes. They forget things. They speak without thinking. They prioritize short-term wins over long-term wins. They act on incomplete information. They fall prey to bias and prejudice. These actions might appear like deliberate attacks from the outside, but the reality is far more mundane.
Hanlon’s razor’s real power lies in how it shifts our perspective. When we assume stupidity rather than malice, we respond differently. Instead of getting defensive or lashing out, we approach the situation with empathy and clarity.
For most daily frustrations and confusion, Hanlon’s razor is a powerful reminder to approach problems with a spirit of generosity. It’s a way to reduce the drama and stress in our lives, and to find practical solutions instead of descending into blame and recrimination.
What is Hanlon’s Razor?
Hanlon’s Razor is a useful mental model which can be summarized as:
‘Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect.’
Like Occam’s razor, this heuristic is helpful for rapid decision-making and intelligent cognition.
Applying Hanlon’s razor in our daily lives allows us to deepen relationships, become less judgmental, and improve rationality. It also allows us to give people the benefit of the doubt and have more empathy. The value of Hanlon’s razor is most pronounced in relationships, business matters, and personal happiness.
People quickly accuse corporations, politicians, their bosses, employees, coffee shop workers, and even family of trying to derail them when things don’t go our way. When someone messes up around us, we forget how many times we, too, have done the same.
We forget how often we have elbowed someone in the street, knocked over a drink at a relative’s house, or forgotten to meet a friend at the right time. Not because we wanted to but because we weren’t paying attention. To assume intent in such a situation rarely makes things better.
None of us can ever know what someone else wants to happen. Even the smartest people make a lot of mistakes. Inability or neglect is far more likely to be the cause than malice. When a situation causes us to become angry or frustrated, it can be valuable to consider whether those emotions are justified. Often, the best way to react to other people causing us problems is by seeking to educate them, not to disdain them. In this way, we can avoid repeats of the same situation.
Origins of Hanlon’s Razor
The phrase ‘Hanlon’s razor’ was coined by Robert J. Hanlon, but it has been voiced by many people throughout history, as far back as 1774.
Napoleon Bonaparte famously declared:
‘Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.’
Goethe wrote similarly in The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774:
Misunderstandings and neglect create more confusion in this world than trickery and malice. At any rate, the last two are certainly much less frequent.
The German general Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord used Hanlon’s razor to assess his men, saying:
I divide my officers into four groups. There are clever, diligent, stupid, and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and diligent – their place is the General Staff. The next lot are stupid and lazy – they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties. Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses the intellectual clarity and the composure necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is stupid and diligent – he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always cause only mischief.
Hanlon’s Razor in a Latticework of Knowledge
Hanlon’s razor works best when combined and contrasted with other mental models in our latticework of knowledge. Here are some examples of the useful interactions:
- The availability heuristic. This mental model states we misjudge the frequency of recent events. In particular, this occurs if they are vivid and memorable. Many people have a tendency to keep an internal scorecard of other people’s mistakes. For example, imagine that a taxi driver takes a wrong turn and makes a journey more expensive. A month later, the same thing occurs with a different driver. We are likely to recall the previous event and react by seeing all taxi drivers as malicious. Instead of accepting both as simple mistakes, the availability of the memory makes us imagine malicious intent. By combining these two mental models, we can understand why certain situations provoke such strong emotions. When memory is vivid and easy to recall, we may ignore Hanlon’s razor.
- Confirmation bias. We all have a tendency to look for information that confirms preexisting beliefs. When cognitive dissonance arises, we aim to realign our worldviews. Overcoming confirmation bias is a huge step towards making better choices motivated by logic, not emotions. Hanlon’s razor assists with this. If we expect malicious intent, we are likely to attribute it wherever possible. For example, if someone sees a certain politician as corrupt, they will look for information that confirms that. They become unable to identify when mistakes are the result of incompetence or accident.
- Bias from disliking/hating. Hanlon’s razor can provide insights when we deal with people, institutions, or entities which we dislike. The more we dislike someone or something, the more likely we are to attribute their actions to malice. When someone we dislike makes a mistake, reacting with empathy and understanding tends to be the last response. Acting in an emotional way is natural, yet immature. It can only worsen the situation. The smartest solution is, no matter how much we dislike someone, to assume neglect or incompetence.
- We also like to attribute our own flaws and failures to someone else, which is a cheap psychological protective mechanism called projection. This allows us to maintain a positive self-image and view friction as someone else’s fault rather than our own. It’s best to run a reality check before blaming others.
The Uses of Hanlon’s Razor
The Media
One of the reasons I no longer read the news is that modern media treats outrage as a profitable commodity.
People are conditioned to take offense at anything that contradicts their worldview. Media outlets are becoming increasingly skilled at generating assumptions of malicious intent. Applying Hanlon’s razor can be beneficial when examining newspapers, websites, and social media.
For example, when Apple’s Siri voice search launched, people noticed it could not search for abortion clinics. This was immediately taken up as proof of misogyny within the company when a programming error caused the problem.
Communication and Relationships
One of the most valuable uses of Hanlon’s razor is in relationships and communication. It is common for people to damage relationships by believing other people are intentionally trying to cause problems for them or behaving in a way intended to be annoying. In most cases, these situations result from inability or accidental mistakes.
Douglas Hubbard expanded upon the idea in Failure of Risk Management: Why it’s Broken and How to Fix it:
I would add a clumsier but more accurate corollary to this: ‘Never attribute to malice or stupidity that which can be explained by moderately rational individuals following incentives in a complex system of interactions.’ People behaving with no central coordination and acting in their own best interest can still create results that appear to some to be clear proof of conspiracy or a plague of ignorance.
A further example can be seen when semantic barriers interfere with communication.
We have all encountered people struggling to speak our native language, perhaps because they are tourists or have recently moved to the county. You have probably seen someone get frustrated at them or even been the one getting annoyed. Or if you have ever traveled to or lived in a country where you are not fluent in the language, people might have gotten annoyed at you when you were simply trying to find the bathroom. Realistically, the person asking for directions or struggling to order their coffee is not mixing up their nouns and speaking in a strong accent on purpose. Hanlon’s razor tells us they are not trying to waste anyone’s time.
Forgive Everything Except
While Hanlon’s Razor advises us not to attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity, it has limitations and may blind us to genuine ill intent. What should you do when actual malice occurs?
The default is to assume no malice and forgive everything. But if malice is confirmed, be ruthless.